Janet Kirkpatrick, a senior animal care assistant at the Hamilton SSPCA centre on Bothwell Road, said: “At the minute our cattery is full to bursting, lots of adult cats and lots of kittens too and that’s not even including the dogs and small animals we also look after. As you can imagine, it’s expensive to run.

“When we get an animal in, they are checked over by a vet, and then if they are healthy, they’re passed for re-homing.

“Whether the animal is a stray or not, it will get veterinary care. We would never let an animal go without the care it needs.”

The Bothwell Road centre have 20 staff, as well as a number of volunteers.

Ms Kirkpatrick continued: “We have volunteers that come in and help with various things in the centre on their days off and at the weekends.

“We’re very grateful of a helping hand because things can get very busy. The dog walkers that come in have been with us for years and it’s great because, although we get the dogs out, it’s hard to get every dog out for a long period of time, so it really helps.”

Scottish Animal Week kicks off on Monday (August 31), and the SSPCA are urging locals to get involved and “shake a tin” to help raise funds.

They are looking for volunteers to carry out door-to-door collections as well as street collections in the local area.

Peter Fleming, manager of Hamilton’s SSPCA animal rescue and re-homing centre, said: “During Scottish Animal Week we have opportunities to fundraise throughout the Lanarkshire area and we’d be really grateful if locals can get behind our appeal and help.

“We encourage people to have a bit of fun and some of our past volunteers have dressed up in costumes or taken a canine friend along with them.”

Another way to help the SSPCA is by sponsoring a space at the centre.

It costs between £30 and £100 to sponsor a space at your local SSPCA centre. This sponsorship lasts for a full year, and will help pay for the food and veterinary treatment of the animals cared for in the ‘space’ you have chosen to sponsor.

As well as volunteering to fundraise, you can also help the SSPCA by joining the society and donating monthly.

If you are keen to help, contact the SSPCA fundraising team on 03000 999999 or email fundraising@scottishspca.org.